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Post by vbnerd on Apr 4, 2022 22:27:08 GMT -5
I remember a story 20 years ago at another school where a player called the new coach to let them know she wasn't feeling well and wouldn't be at spring practice, and she either admitted or eluded to the fact she was hung over, which was an approved excuse under the previous coach. The new coach said when you feel better you can clean out your locker. The team was livid! How unfair! A group of players went to the admin, gave them an ultimatum, and then spring practice continued with 3 players who were there every day.
5-6 years ago I was talking with a SWAC player (not Grambling or UAPB) who said that preseason consisted of a 2 hour light practice in the morning, maybe some weights, and then they'd drink all afternoon on one porch or another. When told about other school's preseasons, she was aghast - who would practice twice a day?
I relay these two stories only to suggest that sometimes a culture is so rotten that the athletes don't even know it. And if you bring in 2-3 players they are going to be devoured by the rotten culture. Now, I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT GRAMBLING, or Lucas. And it would certainly look better if she took some time to find a handful of players who could be turned, if only because how the heck is she going to talk about loyalty after having done this? How do you recruit after this? But there are circumstances where a big/drastic move is warranted and Grambling was really bad.
Pablo of 328 of 340. Their 3 non-conference wins included 2 vs non-D1 teams, including 1-1 vs a mediocre D3 team. Their big win was over 313 UL Monroe. 3 Pin hitters listed under 5'8" with a team hitting % of .121 vs a bad schedule. If you cannot make your schedule easier, you need to make your roster better. Some change was inevitable and only 3 players were seniors.
And having said all that, I'm STILL surprised they let her cut everybody.
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Post by justahick on Apr 4, 2022 23:21:07 GMT -5
That is probably a good comparison. But like at most employers, at will employees doing a competent job don't get separated "at will". Most coaches don't just cut players that are giving good efforts, taking care of their academics, and no off the court problems. You get a reputation for doing that and it has a tendency to negatively impact recruiting. Recruiting efforts, and attracting and retaining talent going forward…good luck with that. Without question. I doubt that this decision was made without tacit approval from the administration/leadership, and legal counsel. Doubtful that legal challenges will be successful. Still, ridiculous and maybe self destructive in my opinion. How do you figure? Recruiting new players might actually be easier with the move. Recruit: Is it true you cut the entire old roster? Coach: Yes-we had a choice, either take 3 years to fully start over, while working around players who won't contribute or cut them all now and make big moves immediatley. The only reason we can offer you a spot/scholarsip is because we made this move.
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Post by Sooners1822 on Apr 5, 2022 1:37:55 GMT -5
Equally shocking is grambling state having a VB fan account on twitter
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Post by vballfreak808 on Apr 5, 2022 8:33:08 GMT -5
In a statement provided to HBCU Sports late Monday, athletic director Trayvean Scott supported Lucas’ decision to alter the roster.
“Just as the transfer portal empowers student-athletes, our coaches are also empowered to make the decisions they deem necessary to advance their programs,” Scott said.
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Post by mervinswerved on Apr 5, 2022 8:57:54 GMT -5
In a statement provided to HBCU Sports late Monday, athletic director Trayvean Scott supported Lucas’ decision to alter the roster. “Just as the transfer portal empowers student-athletes, our coaches are also empowered to make the decisions they deem necessary to advance their programs,” Scott said. Scott was also a supporter of hiring Briles this spring.
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Post by mervinswerved on Apr 5, 2022 8:58:13 GMT -5
FWIW, I don't think this is going to hurt Grambling much, if at all, in recruiting.
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Post by veebznerd on Apr 5, 2022 9:32:55 GMT -5
This is fascinating. While I feel for the players who were cut, I also have to wonder how bad the culture was to make a coach want to cut everyone and start fresh? She had to know this would cause controversy and I'm sure she's feeling the backlash. Which again makes me wonder how bad things were for her to undergo this scrutiny and make this move. I really hate it for the players that wanted to be there. Crazy situation for sure.
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Post by curiousvolleyballdad on Apr 5, 2022 9:50:29 GMT -5
And you wonder why HBCU's lose talented black recruits!
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Post by moderndaycoach on Apr 5, 2022 10:02:16 GMT -5
I would be interested to her more of her reasoning or what information she had prior to coming, especially if the AD was on board.
Bob Huggins has been making the media rounds and sharing his comments on the transfer portal. He prides himself on a coach that improves his players as he knows he isn't a guy who gets 5 star recruits easily like other schools do. He has been speaking on the changes or restrictions that need to be put into situations involving the portal because kids will think the grass is greener but over 250 ncaa basketball players entered the portal last year with only 60 or so finding homes. So now you have all these players left without homes because they already left a situation that they were familiar with and could be struggling to find somewhere else.
One side of this I see what the new coach was doing and understand she needed to act fast to get her roster in order, on the other hand it sucks for these players that likely did not want to leave and are now left scrambling.
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Post by vbnerd on Apr 5, 2022 10:16:50 GMT -5
I would be interested to her more of her reasoning or what information she had prior to coming, especially if the AD was on board. Bob Huggins has been making the media rounds and sharing his comments on the transfer portal. He prides himself on a coach that improves his players as he knows he isn't a guy who gets 5 star recruits easily like other schools do. He has been speaking on the changes or restrictions that need to be put into situations involving the portal because kids will think the grass is greener but over 250 ncaa basketball players entered the portal last year with only 60 or so finding homes. So now you have all these players left without homes because they already left a situation that they were familiar with and could be struggling to find somewhere else. One side of this I see what the new coach was doing and understand she needed to act fast to get her roster in order, on the other hand it sucks for these players that likely did not want to leave and are now left scrambling. 250? There were 1,840 d1 men's BB players in the portal from 8/1/20 to 7/31/21. There are about 1000 D1's since March 1, 2022, and 1816 across D1-2-3 in the same timeframe.
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Post by moderndaycoach on Apr 5, 2022 10:22:35 GMT -5
Grambling nuked their entire roster page as well, unfortunately for this coach at the bottom her bio page she has some seriously unimpressive seasons to come in and wipe a slate clean. gsutigers.com/404-1.aspx?url=%2froster.aspx%3fpath%3dwvball%26view%3ddefaultYou would think she would have at least kept a certain percentage of the roster knowing there will be injuries or other situations that could leave her short handed. Pretty shocking to come in with this type of confidence considering you have only ever had one season over .500 and those kids you are trying to bring from that team won't save you if you can't recruit. CHELSEY LUCAS CAREER RECORD Year School Overall Record Postseason Conference Record Finish 2016 Alcorn State 2-25 --- 1-17 9th 2017 Alcorn State 3-39 --- 0-18 10th 2018 Alcorn State 10-20 --- 6-12 T-8th 2019 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 10-24 --- 8-10 6th 2021 (Spring) Arkansas-Pine Bluff 9-4 --- 6-4 3rd 2021 (Fall) Arkansas-Pine Bluff 18-16 --- 8-10 3rd TOTAL 52-128 34-64
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Post by moderndaycoach on Apr 5, 2022 10:25:37 GMT -5
I would be interested to her more of her reasoning or what information she had prior to coming, especially if the AD was on board. Bob Huggins has been making the media rounds and sharing his comments on the transfer portal. He prides himself on a coach that improves his players as he knows he isn't a guy who gets 5 star recruits easily like other schools do. He has been speaking on the changes or restrictions that need to be put into situations involving the portal because kids will think the grass is greener but over 250 ncaa basketball players entered the portal last year with only 60 or so finding homes. So now you have all these players left without homes because they already left a situation that they were familiar with and could be struggling to find somewhere else. One side of this I see what the new coach was doing and understand she needed to act fast to get her roster in order, on the other hand it sucks for these players that likely did not want to leave and are now left scrambling. 250? There were 1,840 d1 men's BB players in the portal from 8/1/20 to 7/31/21. There are about 1000 D1's since March 1, 2022, and 1816 across D1-2-3 in the same timeframe. I am just going off the statistics that Huggins threw out in the interview, perhaps he was talking specifically Big 12, I am not sure. I am not familiar with navigating the portal, is there a way to see how many kids did not find new homes or returned to previous school?
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Post by stealthspiker on Apr 5, 2022 10:40:30 GMT -5
In light of this backlash, it might be wise for Grambling State to run a JV program to accommodate the displaced players.
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Post by mervinswerved on Apr 5, 2022 10:43:54 GMT -5
250? There were 1,840 d1 men's BB players in the portal from 8/1/20 to 7/31/21. There are about 1000 D1's since March 1, 2022, and 1816 across D1-2-3 in the same timeframe. I am just going off the statistics that Huggins threw out in the interview, perhaps he was talking specifically Big 12, I am not sure. I am not familiar with navigating the portal, is there a way to see how many kids did not find new homes or returned to previous school? I'm going to go out on a limb and say Huggy was not talking about the entirety of DI. Also, the idea only 60 guys found a new place to play is belied by the fact my favorite team alone took in three DI transfers this year.
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Post by staticb on Apr 5, 2022 10:44:25 GMT -5
And you wonder why HBCU's lose talented black recruits! How many talented black recruits want to play for the #328 team? I would argue that they lose a lot of recruits because they aren't seriously committed to athletics.
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